“Manafort was an obvious person of interest,” U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson wrote in part of her 37-page opinion. The decision delivered an expected victory to prosecutors and clears a key hurdle to a September trial in Washington on at least some charges. Former Trump Campaign manager Paul Manafort leaves the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C. on April 4. [Justice Department tells court it “naturally” pursued possible back-channel Russia contacts in Manafort case]In her opinion, Jacksonrejected those arguments. [U.S. judge in Virginia says special counsel wants Manafort to ‘sing’ about Trump]Tuesday’s opinion by Jackson was issued days after both sides argued a similar set of issues to dismiss charges before U.S. District Judge T.S.

Source: Washington Post May 15, 2018 23:37 UTC